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                                                                   Exhibit 10.57


[Date]


[Name]
[Executive Title]
BTU International, Inc.
23 Esquire Rd.
North Billerica, MA 01862

Dear ___________:

     BTU International, Inc. (the "Company") wants to encourage you to continue
your valued association with us as an executive officer. To that end, the
Company is offering you the assurance of severance pay, as described below, in
the event that your employment is terminated in specific circumstances.
Therefore, the purpose of this letter is to confirm the agreement between you
and the Company on the following terms:

1.   SEVERANCE BENEFITS.

     a.   In the event that the Company terminates your employment other than
          for Cause (as defined below in Section 2(b)): (i) the Company will
          continue to pay you your base salary, at the rate in effect on the
          date of termination, until the earlier of (A) the conclusion of a
          period equal to six months plus one month for each year of service, up
          to a maximum of twelve months, or (B) the date you commence employment
          that provides you with substantially equivalent base salary and bonus
          opportunity to the last position you held at the Company (the
          "Severance Pay Period"), provided, however, that to the extent any
          payment under this clause (i) shall be required to be delayed until
          six months following termination of employment from service to comply
          with the "specified employee" rules of Section 409A of the Internal
          Revenue Code, it shall be delayed (but not more than is required) to
          comply with such rules, and shall promptly after such delay be paid
          with interest at a reasonable market rate as determined by the
          Company; (ii) for the duration of the Severance Pay Period, subject to
          any employee contribution applicable to active employees, the Company
          shall continue to contribute to the premium cost of your participation
          and that of your eligible dependents in the Company's group medical
          and dental plans, provided that you and your dependents are entitled
          to continue such participation under applicable law and

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          plan terms; and (iii) provided you work through at least April 1 of
          the year in which termination occurs, at the time bonuses are payable
          to executives of the Company generally for the year in which
          termination occurs, the Company will pay you a pro-rata portion of the
          bonus to which you would have been entitled had your employment
          continued through the end of the year, in its discretion (if any),
          such pro rata portion to be based upon the number of days you worked
          prior to termination divided by 233 (the "Pro Rata Bonus"); provided,
          however, that no payments will be made by the Company pursuant to this
          Section 1(a) until after the effective date of the Release of Claims
          described below.

     b.   In the event that within one year of a Change in Control (as defined
          below in Section 2(c)) the Company terminates your employment other
          than for Cause or you terminate your employment for Good Reason (as
          defined below in Section 2(d)): within ten (10) days following the
          effective date of the Release of Claims described below, the Company
          will provide you with one lump-sum payment in the amount representing:
          (i) twelve (12) months of your base salary at the rate in effect on
          the date of termination; plus (ii) provided you work through at least
          April 1 in the year in which termination occurs, the Pro Rata Bonus,
          which shall be calculated as if you and the Company met but did not
          exceed the performance targets for the year in which termination
          occurs, and shall be based upon the number of days you worked prior to
          termination divided by 233. In addition, for twelve (12) months
          following the date of termination, subject to any employee
          contribution applicable to active employees, the Company shall
          continue to contribute to the premium cost of your participation and
          that of your eligible dependents in the Company's group medical and
          dental plans, provided that you and your dependents are entitled to
          continue such participation under applicable law and plan terms. For
          the avoidance of doubt, if the Company terminates your employment
          other than for Cause within one year of a Change in Control, payments
          to you pursuant to this Section 2(b) shall be in lieu of, and not in
          addition to, payments pursuant to Section 2(a) hereof. To the extent
          any payment under this paragraph (b) shall be required to be delayed
          until six months following termination of employment to comply with
          the "specified employee" rules of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue
          Code, it shall be delayed (but not more than is required) to comply
          with such rules, and shall promptly after such delay be paid with
          interest at a reasonable market rate as determined by the Company.

     c.   In the event that a Change of Control (as defined below in Section
          2(c)) occurs, and (i) you remain employed by the Company on the

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          date that is six (6) months following the consummation of the Change
          of Control (the "Eligibility Date"), or (ii) the Company terminates
          your employment other than for Cause following the Change of Control
          but prior to the Eligibility Date, the Company will provide you,
          within ten (10) days following the Eligibility Date or the effective
          date of the Release of Claims, as applicable, with either (A) a cash
          payment in the amount equal to the value of 10,000. shares of the
          Company's common stock, such value to be determined as of the date the
          Change of Control is consummated, or (B) at the Company's option, if
          following the Change of Control the Company is the surviving
          corporation, 10,000. shares of the Company's common stock (the
          "Retention Bonus"). For the avoidance of doubt, if you terminate your
          employment for any reason prior to the Eligibility Date, or if the
          Company terminates your employment for Cause prior to the Eligibility
          Date, you will not be eligible for the Retention Bonus or any portion
          thereof.

     d.   In the event your employment is terminated in accordance with Section
          1(a) or 1(b) above, and during your employment part of your
          compensation was earned on a commission basis: (i) the Company will
          pay you, at the time such commissions otherwise would have been paid
          to you had you remained an active employee of the Company, all
          commission payments that had become due and payable to you prior to
          the date of termination but that had not yet been paid to you; and
          (ii) the Company will pay you, in one lump-sum payment within ten (10)
          days following the effective date of the Release of Claims described
          below, an amount representing fifty percent (50%) of the total
          commissions that were paid to you for the calendar year prior to the
          year in which termination occurs.

2.   DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this Agreement, the following definitions
     shall apply:

     a.   "Affiliates" means all persons and entities directly or indirectly
          controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Company,
          where control may be by either management authority or equity
          interest.

     b.   "Cause" means (i) your material failure to perform (other than by
          reason of disability) or material negligence in the performance of
          your duties and responsibilities for the Company or any of its
          Affiliates; (ii) commission by you of fraud, embezzlement or theft
          with respect to the Company or its Affiliates; or (iii) commission by
          you of any felony or any other crime involving dishonesty or moral
          turpitude.

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     c.   "Change of Control" means (i) any entity or "group" (within the
          meaning of Section 13(d)(3) or 14(d)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act
          of 1934 as amended (the "Exchange Act")), other than the Company or
          any of its Affiliates or any trustee or other fiduciary holding
          securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or one of its
          Affiliates, becomes a beneficial owner (within the meaning of Rule
          13d-3 as promulgated under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly,
          in one or a series of transactions, of securities representing more
          than fifty percent (50%) of the combined voting power of the Company's
          then outstanding securities; (ii) any merger or consolidation
          involving the Company (other than a merger of a subsidiary with the
          Company); or (iii) any sale or other disposition by the Company of all
          or substantially all of the assets of the Company other than to one or
          more of the Company's Affiliates or any trustee or other fiduciary
          holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or
          any of its Affiliates.

     d.   "Good Reason" means (i) the material reduction of your base salary by
          the Company without your consent (other than a reduction that is
          corrected within five business days following receipt of notice from
          you specifying the nature and amount of the reduction, or a reduction
          applicable to all Company managerial employees); (ii) the material
          diminution in the scope of your duties, responsibilities or authority
          by the Company without your consent; or (iii) the material failure by
          the Company to comply with any of the material provisions of this
          Agreement.

3.   RELEASE OF CLAIMS. In order to be eligible to receive any of the severance
     pay and benefits under Section 1(a), 1(b), 1(c)(ii) and 1(d)(ii) of this
     Agreement, you must execute a release of claims in favor of the Company,
     substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 1, and you must not
     timely revoke the release of claims (the "Release of Claims").

4.   CONFIDENTIALITY AND RESTRICTED ACTIVITIES.

     a.   You acknowledge that the Company and its Affiliates continually
          develop Confidential Information, that you may develop Confidential
          Information for the Company or its Affiliates and that you may learn
          of Confidential Information during the course of employment. You will
          comply with the policies and procedures of the Company and its
          Affiliates for protecting Confidential Information and shall not
          disclose to any Person or use, other than as required by applicable
          law or for the proper performance of your duties and responsibilities
          to the Company and its Affiliates, any Confidential Information
          obtained by you incident to your employment or other association with
          the Company or any of its Affiliates. You understand that this
          restriction shall continue to

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          apply after your employment terminates, regardless of the reason for
          such termination.

     b.   You acknowledge that in your employment with the Company you will have
          access to confidential information of the Company and its Affiliates
          which, if disclosed, would assist in competition against them and that
          you will also generate goodwill for the Company and its Affiliates in
          the course of your employment. Therefore, you agree that the following
          restrictions on your activities during and after your employment with
          the Company are necessary to protect the goodwill, confidential
          information and other legitimate interests of the Company and its
          Affiliates:

          i.   While you are employed by the Company and for the period of
               twelve (12) months after your employment terminates, you shall
               not, directly or indirectly, own, manage, operate, control or
               participate in any manner in the ownership, management, operation
               or control of, or be connected as an officer, employee, partner,
               director, principal, consultant, agent or otherwise with, or have
               any financial interest in, or aid or assist anyone else in the
               conduct of, any business, venture or activity which competes with
               any Business of the Company or its Affiliates, in the United
               States or any other geographic area where such Business is being
               conducted or actively being planned to be conducted at or prior
               to the last day of your employment. For the purposes of this
               Section 4, the Business of the Company and its Affiliates shall
               include all Products and your undertaking shall encompass all
               items, products and services that may be used in substitution for
               Products. Notwithstanding the foregoing, ownership of not more
               than five percent of any class of equity security of any publicly
               held corporation shall not, of itself, constitute a violation of
               this Section 4.

          ii.  You agree that while you are employed by the Company and during
               the two years after your employment terminates, you will not hire
               or attempt to hire any employee of the Company or any of its
               Affiliates, assist in such hiring by any Person, encourage any
               such employee to terminate his or her relationship with the
               Company or any of its Affiliates, or solicit or encourage any
               customer or vendor of the Company or any of its Affiliates to
               terminate or diminish its relationship with them, or, in the case
               of a customer, to conduct with any Person any business or
               activity which such customer conducts or could conduct with the
               Company or any of its Affiliates.

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     c.   In signing this Agreement, you give the Company assurance that you
          have carefully read and considered all the terms and conditions of
          this Agreement, including the restraints imposed on you under this
          Section 4. You agree without reservation that these restraints are
          necessary for the reasonable and proper protection of the Company and
          its Affiliates and that each and every one of the restraints is
          reasonable in respect to subject matter, length of time and geographic
          area. You further agree that, were you to breach any of the covenants
          contained in this Section 4, the damage to the Company and its
          Affiliates would be irreparable. You therefore agree that the Company,
          in addition to any other remedies available to it, shall be entitled
          to preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against any breach or
          threatened breach by you of any of those covenants, without having to
          post bond. You and the Company further agree that, in the event that
          any provision of this Section 4 is determined by any court of
          competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable by reason of its being
          extended over too great a time, too large a geographic area or too
          great a range of activities, that provision shall be deemed to be
          modified to permit its enforcement to the maximum extent permitted by
          law.

5.   PAYMENT SCHEDULE AND WITHHOLDING. Payments by the Company under this
     agreement shall be reduced by all taxes and other amounts which the Company
     is required to withhold under applicable law and, except as otherwise
     provided, shall be payable as salary continuation at the Company's regular
     payroll periods and in accordance with its regular payroll practices,
     commencing on the next regular payday following the date of termination of
     your employment.

6.   NOT A CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT. This agreement is not a contract of
     employment for a definite term and does not otherwise restrict your right,
     or that of the Company, to terminate your employment, with or without
     notice or cause.

7.   MISCELLANEOUS.

     a.   This is the entire agreement between you and the Company, and replaces
          all prior communications, agreements and understandings, written or
          oral, with respect to termination of your employment and all related
          matters (provided that all standard form of Company confidentiality,
          assignment of invention and similar agreements that you have signed
          shall continue to be in full force and effect). No modification or
          amendment of this Agreement shall be valid unless in writing and
          signed by you and a duly authorized representative of the Company. The
          headings and captions in this Agreement are for convenience only and
          in no way define or describe the scope or content of any provision of
          this

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          Agreement. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts,
          each of which shall be an original and all of which together shall
          constitute one and the same instrument. This is a Massachusetts
          contract and shall be governed and construed in accordance with the
          laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to the
          conflict of laws principles thereof.

     b.   Neither you nor the Company may make any assignment of this Agreement
          or any interest in it, by operation of law or otherwise, without the
          prior written consent of the other; provided, however, that in the
          event that the Company shall hereafter affect a reorganization,
          consolidate with, or merge into any entity or transfer all or
          substantially all of its properties or assets to any entity, the
          Company may (and will use its reasonable efforts to) assign its rights
          and obligations under this Agreement to such entity. This Agreement
          shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon you and the Company,
          and each of our representative successors, executors, administrators,
          heirs and permitted assigns.

If the terms of this Agreement are acceptable to you, please sign, date and
return it to me no later than _____________. At the time you sign and return it,
this Agreement will take effect as a legally binding agreement between you and
the Company on the basis set forth above. The enclosed copy of this Agreement,
which you should also sign and date, is for your records.


                                             Sincerely,

                                             BTU International, Inc.


                                             By:
                                                 ------------------------------
                                                 Paul van der Wansem
                                                 Chief Executive Officer

          Accepted and agreed:


          --------------------------
          Date:
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                                    Exhibit 1

                                RELEASE OF CLAIMS


     FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF the benefits to be provided me in connection
with the termination of my employment, as set forth in the letter agreement
between me and BTU International, Inc. (the "Company") dated as of ________ (the
"Agreement"), which are conditioned on my signing this Release of Claims and to
which I am not otherwise entitled, and for other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, I,
on my own behalf and on behalf of my heirs, executors, administrators,
beneficiaries, representatives and assigns, and all others connected with me,
hereby release and forever discharge the Company, its subsidiaries and other
affiliates and all of their respective past, present and future officers,
directors, trustees, shareholders, employees, agents, general and limited
partners, members, managers, joint venturers, representatives, successors and
assigns, and all others connected with any of them, both individually and in
their official capacities, from any and all causes of action, rights and claims
of any type or description, known or unknown, which I have had in the past, now
have, or might now have, through the date of my signing of this Release of
Claims, in any way resulting from, arising out of or connected with my
employment by the Company or any of its subsidiaries or other affiliates or the
termination of that employment or pursuant to any federal, state or local law,
regulation or other requirement (including without limitation Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and the fair employment practices laws of the
state or states in which I have been employed by the Company or any of the
subsidiaries or other affiliates, each as amended from time to time).

Excluded from the scope of this Release of Claims is any right of
indemnification or contribution that I have pursuant to the Articles of
Incorporation or By-Laws of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or other
affiliates.

In signing this Release of Claims, I acknowledge my understanding that I may
consider the terms of this Release of Claims for up to twenty-one (21) days the
date I receive this Release of Claims. I also acknowledge that I am advised by
the Company and its subsidiaries and other affiliates to seek the advice of an
attorney prior to signing this Release of Claims; that I have had sufficient
time to consider this Release of Claims and to consult with an attorney, if I
wished to do so, or to consult with any other person of my choosing before
signing; and that I am signing this Release of Claims voluntarily and with a
full understanding of its terms.

I further acknowledge that, in signing this Release of Claims, I have not relied
on any promises or representations, express or implied, that are not set forth
expressly in the Agreement. I understand that I may revoke this Release of

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Claims at any time within seven (7) days of the date of my signing by written
notice to THE Chief Executive Officer of the Company and that this Release of
Claims will take effect only upon the expiration of such seven-day revocation
period and only if I have not timely revoked it.

Intending to be legally bound, I have signed this Release of Claims under seal
as of the date written below.


Signature:
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Name (please print):
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Date Signed:
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